Britta Siegmund © ECCO

Dear ECCO Friends,

As the year 2024 draws to a close, it is my pleasure to welcome you to the final edition of ECCO News for this year—marking not just a reflection on an exciting year, but also my last foreword as President of ECCO. How time flies!

It has been a privilege to guide ECCO through a year of growth and progress. And now, we are on the brink of something extraordinary—the 20th ECCO Congress! This milestone event will once again align with our REACH strategy, focusing on “Sustainability in IBD and Beyond.” It is a great honour and pleasure to welcome you all to my hometown of Berlin!

Brigida Barberio © ECCO

Dear IBD colleagues and friends,

Warm greetings from the ECCO News Team!

Are you enjoying the Christmas holiday season, with its magic and heart-touching atmosphere, plenty of family love and centuries-old traditions?

Well, enjoy it all but please also start thinking about our equally sensational 20th Congress of ECCO, which will take place in the progressive and inclusive city of Berlin, from February 19 - 22, 2025.

Nuha Yassin © ECCO

Dear ECCO Friends and Colleagues,

With the festive break and end of year approaching rapidly, what better way to have our final ECCO News interview for 2024 than make it a celebratory one. We celebrate the spirit of ECCO, the collaboration, the multidisciplinary approach and the friendships by speaking to our new General Secretary, Professor Edouard Louis. During this interview you will get reacquainted with Professor Louis and share his vision for ECCO. We hope you enjoy the interview and learn of ways to get involved with ECCO. There is no better time than the present to get involved with ECCO as the society builds on its wide global reach. Wishing you a fabulous time with your friends and families. See you in Berlin in 2025.

Best Wishes,

Nuha Yassin

Consultant Colorectal Surgeon

ECCO News Associate Editor

Bella Ungar © ECCO

Pokémon is a globally popular Japanese cartoon. My son is a Pokémon enthusiast. He loves the thrilling evolution of Pokémon creatures from the young Pokémon into its more advanced form. The suspense surrounding the ECCO Young Researcher Award mirrors this Pokémon transformation, as emerging researchers in our community are recognised for their own distinguished professional growth.

Two recipients of the 2024 ECCO Young Researcher Award, João Pedro Guedelha Sabino and Jakob Zimmerman, share their insights on how this ECCO recognition benefits their careers.

Harry Sokol © ECCO

Diet is now widely recognised to be a significant factor in the pathogenesis of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). A growing body of epidemiological research has established links between dietary behaviour, particularly consumption of the Mediterranean diet vs the Western diet, and the risk of developing Crohn’s Disease and/or Ulcerative Colitis. Moreover, mechanistic studies, often conducted in mouse models, have shed light on how specific dietary components impact the onset and severity of intestinal inflammation. For instance, dietary fibres, fatty acids and emulsifiers have been shown to directly affect host cells or modulate the composition and functions of the gut microbiota, thereby influencing IBD progression. In addition, intervention studies involving human subjects now emphasise the importance of incorporating diet into the therapeutic approach for IBD. However, the optimal role of diet in managing IBD remains an area of ongoing investigation.

Tanja Kuehbacher © ECCO

The new REACH strategy was launched at ECCO’24 in Stockholm by ECCO President Britta Siegmund. The acronym defines the goals for ECCO Activities over the next five years. Each year, ECCO will focus on a particular goal. The current goal is Equitable Access to Health Care, while the goal for 2025, commencing at ECCO’25 in Berlin, will be Attain Sustainable IBD Care and that for 2026 will be Holistic IBD Care.   ( Ref.: ECCO REACH strategy by ECCO governing board, ECCO homepage). These goals will help to better define and expand the ECCO Mission to improve care for all IBD patients.

The incidence of all-age IBD is increasing worldwide, with studies in paediatric IBD (PIBD) showing a continued rise in the last few decades [1]. A recent significant publication by the French EPIMAD (population-based registry) group evaluated the incidence, prevalence and clinical presentation over a 30-year period from 1988 to 2017 [2]. Of the 22,879 incident IBD cases, 2013 were diagnosed before the age of 17 years (9% of all cases). IBD incidence rates rose significantly over the study period in all paediatric age groups [highest incidence of 10.6/100,000 (95%CI 10.1–11.1) in the 10- to 16-year group], with the overall paediatric population showing the highest annual percentage change between the earliest and the latest epoch [+4.6% (95%CI 3.9–5.2) compared to +1.5% (95%CI 1.2–1.8) for the entire IBD cohort].

Pascal Juillerat  © ECCO

Dear ECCO Members,

I'm excited to share some great news about our e-Learning platform. As we settle into the cozy winter season, I encourage you to explore the latest additions to the ECCO e-Learning platform.

You may recall our Spring e-Learning Tour video, which highlighted the platform's key features. If you haven't seen it yet, I invite you to watch it below.

Manuel Barreiro-de Acosta © ECCO

We take great pleasure in announcing that, following a lapse of one year, the ECCO Educational Committee (EduCom) will once again be holding a series of ECCO Educational Workshops.

These workshops will take place on the following dates in the following cities:

• 74^th ECCO Workshop in Katowice, Poland – April 26, 2025

• 75^th ECCO Workshop in Tallinn, Estonia – June 6, 2025

• 76^th ECCO Workshop in Siófok, Hungary – June 12, 2025

• 77^th ECCO Workshop in Lima, Peru – August 29, 2025

• 78^th ECCO Workshop in Dubai, United Arab Emirates – September 20, 2025

Michel Adamina © ECCO

The ECCO Topical Review on Predictive Models on IBD Disease Course and Treatment Response was launched in late December 2023 and a virtual kick-off meeting took place in early 2024. At the heart of this Topical Review lies the lack of a trusted model to predict clinical course in IBD patients. Indeed, the wide treatment armentarium available today, with many new drugs and therapeutic classes entering clinical practice, makes decision-making increasingly complex. While the role of medications and surgical options is addressed in the ECCO Guidelines on Therapeutics in Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s Disease, prediction of the optimal use and sequence of treatment options remains elusive. Although several biomarkers with the potential to foresee disease course and treatment response have been identified, none has been established in clinical practice. Hence, clinical decision-making relies on dynamic clinical assessment, together with endoscopic evaluation and C-reactive protein and faecal calprotectin measurements.